


Grace's Birthday

by grnidshrk



Series: Senior Year in Pineapple Hell [2]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Birthday, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-04-01
Updated: 2011-09-16
Packaged: 2017-10-17 10:32:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,591
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/175930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/grnidshrk/pseuds/grnidshrk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are so many things that can happen because of a birthday</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wayside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When did the job become more important?

Mathew Williams Sr. had watched as his eldest son raised his daughter.

His daughter, not his son’s, his.

And yet he was hardly present in her life—he’d been hardly present in any of his children’s lives.

He wondered when he’d let life get away from him, let the children he’d wanted so much when he was younger fall to the wayside for his job.

Aoife* had raised the kids while he was off working, hardly ever home and always uprooting them for his job up and down the east coast.

She’d raised one hell of a son, though.

He watched from the road as Daniel, his eldest, took pictures with his camera and played with the kids gathered for this special day.

He watched as Grace, his youngest, ran up to the young blond and showed him something she’d found in the sand; the smile he’d given her before he tugged on one of her braids spoke volumes of their relationship.

Biologically, Grace was his daughter.

In every way that counted, Daniel was her father.

He watched as his . . . his granddaughter ran up to another young man and showed him the same thing before he swept her up and carried her around causing her to shriek in joy.

He wasn’t going to intrude; this was their day, their celebration.

It’s not every day your little girl turns three, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *pronounced Ee-fa or Eva/Ava


	2. The Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve quirked his head to the side, "Kiddie crack? What do you mean?"

Danny yawned as he drank his coffee, desperately trying to wake himself up before Steve got there.

It was Grace’s birthday and he had too much to do, though now he was actually glad that Steve had offered to help months ago.

He never figured the guy would actually do it though—McGarrett was odd in more than a few ways but most of them were good.

He’d made the pizza dough with Grace’s help last night, sliced and shredded the Pepperoni and Cheese, diced Mushrooms and Olives, cut up—he grimaced—pineapple and peppers; everything was ready.

He couldn’t believe the geek had somehow managed to get his Dad to okay them having the party at their house on their beach.

Danny was scrubbing a towel through his blond hair, which was getting lighter to longer he stayed here, when he heard the knock signaling Steve’s arrival.

Steve bounced on his toes as he waited for Danno to open the door—the blond may have put up a fuss every time he used that name but that didn’t stop him from using it while they were only among friends and family—eager for the day to get underway, excited to give Grace her birthday present and give her the best birthday ever.

The brunette’s mouth went dry when Danny opened the door in nothing but some stray water droplets, black board shorts, and a towel in hand.

Oh Damn. He was in trouble.

“Hey, you’re here,” he swallowed hard and followed the blond into the house as he continued to dry off, “Grace is still asleep and I have most of the food prepared, we just have to pack it up with the decorations and presents I got her and take it over there. You sure you have the cake done and everything?”

Steve nodded and grunted an affirmative as he got a glass of juice from the fridge, “Yeah, I asked Kono’s Gran if she would make the cake and some other sweets, and since Kono helped when you said she could come, she didn’t even charge me anything except for the ingredients.”

“Really? You didn’t have to pay for it, I would have—“

“Come on now Danno, when have I let you do everything on your own?”

The blond scowled, “Haven’t I told you not to use Grace’s name for me?”

“Yeah, but at least I only use it around friends and family and not at school, besides, it a term of endearment, like Jersey. It just means I like you.”

Danny sighed, “A term of endearment, huh? I can live with that I suppose. What all did you ask Kono and her grandma to make?”

“Just some cocoa puffs, malasadas—since I know how much you like those—a Guava cake, and chocolate and butter mochi.”

Danny stared at him in shock, his eyes wide, “You’ve never been around little kids with lots of sugar have you? Even three year olds are horrible with that much sugar. Factoring in Kono and Mary, do you have any idea how much of a hell its gunna be with everyone hyped on that much kiddie crack?”

Steve quirked his head to the side, “Kiddie crack? What do you mean?”

Danny closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose in a futile attempt to stave off the McGarrett induced headache; he swore sometimes that for as smart as the guy was, he was just as dumb normal wise.

“Yes, kiddie crack, sugar. Because it’s white and powdery and has the same effects as crack on kids without all of the negatives with the actual substance, hence the name. Instead we get cavities, obesity, possible diabetes, and the welcomed after sugar rush crash we Parental figures yearn for after about ten minutes of the sweets induced mania. Trust me; despite the energy you have you’ll be exhausted after the party.”

Steve paused as he thought about it, finishing off the grapefruit pomegranate juice Danny seemed to favor to pineapple juice. “You know I never thought about it that way. Well it is her birthday, aren’t kids supposed to get hyped up on sugar on their birthday? I know you don’t let her have sugar much during the week, but come on, it’s her birthday.”

Danny forced back a growl, “Once a week, I let her have Shave Ice only once a week and suddenly I’m the bad guy. In every other facet of a person’s diet it has to all be lean and fat free, but Shave Ice ever day is okay.”

“Not every day.”

Danny sighed and handed the cooler full of the pizza makings, “Here, take the pizza stuff while I get her presents and the decorations loaded up. When everything is loaded up why don’t you go drop that stuff at your house and I’ll wake up Sleeping Beauty. Do you want to come and get us or should I meet you there when she’s up?”

“I’ll come get you both. Mary said she’d help put up the decorations and Kono is supposed to show up with the cake and stuff soon so she’ll have help.”

Danny made sure everything was tied securely in the back of Steve’s beat up Chevy truck, “Alright. Chin's off today, too, isn’t he?”

“Yeah, Kono said she’s drag him over with her if she managed to catch him before he gets the chance to go surfing today. You know that Kono has already decided that she’s going to be teaching Grace to surf right?” The brunette leaned against the passenger side door as he watched the blonde for his reaction.

Danny just growled as he glared in the direction of the shore, then he sighed, “I know. I figured with the way she’s enamored with the water already there’d be no stopping her when she gets older. That’s why I told Kono she could give Grace a kid’s boogie board and start teaching her how to swim in open water for her birthday.” He scowled at eyebrow Steve lifted at him, “You’re still not getting me out there. Not . . . not yet, I’m still acclimating to the sand, it gets everywhere.”

Steve rolled his eyes, “Whatever you say, Danno, whatever you say. Go get the *Kamāliʻi wahine up so she can have her party.”

Danny waved his hand at him as if he was fed up as he went inside, his back to Steve so he couldn’t see the smile on his face.

He wouldn’t have been able to stand it if the Neanderthal figured out he was beginning to pick up on the language, the idiot would start to get the idea he wanted to be Kama’aina eventually.

Fat chance of that ever happening . . . well it would have been, until he met that confusing, contradicting man. He seemed to have actually found a reason not to move back to New Jersey after he graduated and was allowed to take custody of Grace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Princess


	3. The Least You Can Do is Try

Jack McGarrett had gone inside in order to get another beer for both himself and Chin when he noticed the unfamiliar car parked beside his home. He immediately became alert, angry at whomever dared to try interfere on Grace's birthday. Then he saw him, standing in the shadows of a tree, watching Danny and Grace the closest.

The man was in a suit and loafers, his tie fluttering in the afternoon breeze. He studied the man as he suddenly seemed incredibly angry and then—he just deflated. Sad and defeated, yet a morosely understanding smile was on his face.

Taking in the emotions the man was exuding he studied the man even closer and was startled to realize that the man watching from the shadows was Danny's father. He had the same jaw line and nose, the same light colored hair curly hair. He was of similar height and, though not as defined, build as his son. The only difference between the two was how happy Danny seemed to be and the [_saudade_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade) air that surrounded his father.

With a sigh he quietly walked out to the man who appeared to be getting ready to leave his children without informing them he was there.

“You know, it’s never too late to make amends. It might not be perfect, not like it would have been if you had been there for every important part of his life, but you’ll still be a part of it.”

Mathew Williams whirled around in shock, not having realized someone was behind him, and faced the man who had spoken, spooked not only by his presence but his words too, they hit home painfully accurately.

“I—uh, Mathew Williams, Daniel’s Father.” Jack nodded at the man, “I figured. You two look a lot alike. I’m Jack, Steve’s Dad. He’s the one who’s tossing Gracie into the surf.”

They both looked at where their children were, Danny taking pictures as Steve and Grace splashed at each other until Mary ran up and stole the camera and pushed Danny in as well. The two in the water laughed as Danny sat up and yelled at Mary before he got up and tackled Steve into the water himself, Grace jumping into the fray and leaving them all laughing uncontrollably.

Mathew’s face showed how he was feeling as he fell back into forlorn nostalgia, “I hadn’t realized, you know, how much I’d let my family stray from my sole purpose in life until I came back this morning. There on the calendar in the kitchen screamed at me that today was my youngest’s birthday and there on the counter were notes scribbled in my eldest’s handwriting what all had to be done to get ready for today, who was bringing what and what needed to be prepared.”

Jack was quiet for a moment, “I’ll admit that I’ve not been exactly Father of the Year for the past few years running myself.” Mathew looked at the other man, not saying anything, just knowing he had to say it in his own time, “When my wife was murdered I practically abandoned Steve and Mary, I immersed myself in finding her killer so much. Your son,” Jack couldn’t withhold the laugh, “He’s very in your face when he thinks something is wrong. He and Grace somehow managed to not only get Steve and Mary to get along and smile more but somehow broke me away from my obsession, at least so much as that it no longer has distracted me from the family I have left.”

Mathew grinned wryly at that, “Yes, he’s always had a very accurate view of what is right and wrong, morally at least. When I first got the promotion in my job that brought me here, he flat out told me he was coming with and I couldn’t stop him if I had wanted too. He’s very stubborn when he wants to be.” The grin faded, “Because of that stubbornness, however, I’m not sure he’ll ever quite forgive me for what I’ve done to our family.”

Jack watched his kids and the ones that have somehow become his kids without ever consulting him, “I think he’s a lot more forgiving than you think. You might not be close, but he’ll let you be part of his life, and eventually you’ll get there. Come on, the least you can do is tell her Happy Birthday.”

Bright blue eyes, so much like the one’s he’d gotten to know these past months, stared at him before he straightened his shoulders and nodded.

Looks like he added another person to their odd family.


	4. She's Yours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Danny Freaks Out a little and Matthew learns some things about his son.

Danny froze minutely as soon as he caught a glimpse of his father standing next to Mr. McGarrett, tense and slightly angry that he decided now of all times to pop up in his children's lives. When Steve looked up from swinging Grace around and saw his tense posture he set her down and told her to go pull Mary and Kono into the water. He walked over to the shorter blond and lightly touched his arm, asking with his eyes what was wrong.

"My father is here, your dad intercepted him, but I," he was quiet for a moment, his eyes troubled," I don't know why he's here. He's never been interested in what we've done before; hell before Grace was born Ma was the only parent I was sure we had."

Steve froze slightly, he knew Danny's father was more absent than his had ever been, but the indignant anger he felt on behalf of his friend was not something he figured the man would take well. The shorter male was proud, he supported himself and Grace with the job he got when he left school, he had applied for early entry into Honolulu Community College for an associate's in Administrative Justice, half of next semester's courses being there instead of Kuikui High, and was aiming for a position in law enforcement. And hopefully, he'd told him one night, he planned on getting a Bachelor's in Criminal Justice when he could, then maybe he'd eventually make it to detective. All those plans and dreams orbited around one person though, Grace, and Matthew Williams was not someone who would make any of those plans easy or come true.

Steve cleared his throat and tried not to let that anger be apparent, glancing at where he saw his father talking with a blond man with startling similarities to the one in front of him, "What do you want to do?"

"I dunno. I suppose I'll just have to let the cards fall where they will."

Steve blinked at that, at the quiet resignation he could hear in the normally loud confident voice, "You can't mean you're just going to give up to whatever he says, right? I mean, come on Danno, that little girl is yours, she comes to you for everything, all he did was donate some DNA and pay for the house you're living in."

"Exactly Steve. He's currently the one who owns the roof over our heads and supposedly has custody of her. He has all the power to take her away from me."

"He won't."

"You don't know that."

"Yeah I do. If he's been standing there, then he's seen you with her, and since Dad is there he's hopefully talked him into understanding that she's yours just by what he's seen of you together. Besides, I'm sure Dad and Chin know someone who would represent you in court if you have to go there and we've all seen how much you support her. Hell Danno, her doctor thought you were her Father, everyone does. No one realizes you're not her dad unless you tell them.

"She's your girl, no one, not even him, can take her from you."

He was holding Danny's shoulder in a tight grip, his eyes intense as he stared into surf blue orbs opposite him.

Danny couldn't help the grin that stretched at his lips, "You sayin' you got my back, Boy-scout?"

Steve's brow twitched at the moniker Danny had given him shortly after they met, something that he used rarely anymore. Instead of swiping at the blond he just grinned, "You can bet your short stature on it, Jersey."

Jack McGarrett and Matthew Williams stopped watching the girls play in the surf when they heard Danny bellow modified obscenities and threats at Steve, chasing after the taller male as he ran in obscure patterns to keep away from the spitfire behind him.

Matthew grinned at the sight, “They always like that? I know Danny has always had a temper, but it was never something I actively thought about.”

Jack snorted at the thought as they saw Danny take Steve down with a leaping tackle and Matthew’s eyes grew large at the violence they were playfully heaping on each other, “Yes. Your son has one hell of a right hook too, not to mention the other fighting moves he’s got. I have no idea where he got them from but one day some of the guys from their school, who were definite Hawaiian Nationalists from the stuff they were saying, cornered him one weekend. He was coming to meet us for dinner, since he had to work and Steve watched Grace for the day. The only way we knew something was wrong was a brief text he sent about being held up not too far from where we were waiting and that he might be a bit bloody and to not worry. Needless to say, we couldn’t not worry and Steve left Grace with me and hurried on ahead. By the time we got there three of them were on the ground and Steve had basically dislocated one of their shoulders while he held onto him and Danny was genially telling their leader why he shouldn’t try to beat up on the haoles because most weren’t as forgiving as him as he had a foot on the guy’s sternum.

“I’ll admit it was mildly disturbing to see him do that, but considering the one beneath him was muttering threats to both him and Grace, I can understand. I’ve seen him take a whole bunch of shit thrown at him because of his haole status, but once someone he cares about is mentioned or threatened he turns deadly. He’s quite the protector. The only thing I see him having problems with is holding back that violence once he’s out on the job.”

Matthew was once again silent for a few minutes, studying his son again as he was now just playfully wrestling with the taller teen in the sand and no longer aiming to hurt. It was . . . both disheartening and making him surprisingly proud to learn this about his son, even though he didn’t learn about this himself.

“What do you mean on the job?”

Jack shrugged and looked at the man next to him, “He plans on getting an associate’s in something criminal justice related and then going to the academy to become an officer. Apparently, he also told Steve that when that’s done he wants to get a bachelor’s once Grace is in school and then shoot for detective. If there’s anyone that could do it, it would be him. I have a feeling that Steve is going to be there for the entire ride if he can help it. They haven’t said anything to anyone, probably not even with each other, but I think they’re falling in love. That doesn’t bother you does it?”

“No,” the answer was quiet and introspective, Matthew not entirely in the present, “No that doesn’t bother me. Surprising that he wants to be a cop and that they are falling in love so young, but he and Steve being together doesn’t bother me.”

Jack nodded and the two moved into the house, Matthew shedding some of his work attire and exchanging it for a beer instead.

They stayed in the cool environment for a few minutes before they went back outside to greet the sun and the kids once more.


	5. Daddy and Danno

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She Loved her Daddy, but her left her and Danno alone all the time. She love her Danno, he took care of her always, and he's never left her. They were her family and finally they're together for her.

Three year old Grace didn't know a whole lot about life, except that Danno was Danno and he'd always be there.

Daddy was only one who left all the time.

She knew that Daddy made Danno mad and sad, that he hurt him.

So while she was playing with Auntie Mary and Auntie Kono, she saw Daddy standing next to Papa Jack she couldn't help but wonder why he was there.

Daddy was never there, why was he there now?

But then she saw Danno and Steve talking to them and she could see the hurt on Danno's face turn into something . . . she didn't know.

But then they shook hands and it was the first time she had ever seen them touch. Daddy had never hugged or played with Danno's hair like Danno did hers, he had never even patted him on the back.

It made her grin and start playing with her Aunties some more.

This was the best birthday she'd ever had, she had all of her family there with her, that's what made it the best.


End file.
